Kithungururu AA #100 - 250g

Origin: Kithungururu Factory - Kithungururu Farmers’ Cooperative Society

Kithungururu Factory

The Kithungururu Factory is located in Embu County, Kenya, and is part of the Kithungururu Farmers’ Cooperative Society, which also manages the Ndunda Factory. The factory serves local smallholder farmers who cultivate SL 28, SL 34, and Ruiru 11 varieties and deliver their cherries to the wet mill during the harvest season.

The factory is overseen by a factory manager who is responsible for daily operations, including weighing coffee deliveries, supervising grading and quality control, coordinating farmer payments, and addressing producer concerns.

Agronomic support is provided through farmer training programs, field visits, and technical guidance offered in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture. Farmers are encouraged to follow recommended production practices, including pruning, weeding, fertilization, mulching, and disease management. Compliance with these guidelines is monitored by a field committee that regularly visits member farms.

Kithungururu Cooperative Society encourages sustainable farming practices among its members. The factory has installed wastewater soak pits located away from water sources, allowing processing water to filter back into the soil. In addition, the cooperative promotes tree planting among member farmers as part of its conservation efforts.

Harvest & Post Harvest

Kithungururu Coffee Factory sits at approximately 1,600 meters above sea level on red volcanic soils. The region experiences temperatures ranging from 13–24°C and receives around 1,300 mm of rainfall annually. Flowering generally occurs between March and April and again between September and October, with harvest periods taking place from May to June and from November to December.

Coffee cherries are delivered either directly to the factory or to collection centers, where farmers sort out unripe, overripe, and disease-affected cherries before processing. Following delivery, the cherries are hand-sorted and pulped using traditional disc pulpers. During pulping, parchment is separated by density, with the densest coffees classified as P1 and directed to fermentation tanks.

The coffee undergoes dry fermentation in concrete tanks for approximately 16–24 hours. Some lots receive intermediate washing during fermentation to help remove mucilage. Once fermentation is complete, the parchment is washed in grading channels where it is separated again by density. The denser parchment is then soaked in clean water for 16–24 hours.

After soaking, the coffee is skin-dried on hessian mesh mats before being transferred to raised drying tables. Drying takes place on jute cloth or shade netting and generally lasts between 12 and 21 days, depending on weather conditions. During drying, the coffee is covered during the hottest part of the day and at night to protect quality and ensure even moisture reduction.